I disagree on the Casilla play. I think Laird got him on the shoulder right before his hand touched - it was close, could have gone either way. The HBP was clearly wrong, but I’m fine with it. I hate than a hit jersey counts as a hit batter.

Casilla was out. End of story. Yes, Inge DID get HBP, but I agree with Aarcraft that I don’t like the jersey counting. The ball has to actually hit you. Anything close and you stay in the box.

I thought the strike zone, while bad, was fairly consistent for the first 8 innings or so.

I said this to a million other Tiger fans last night and I’ll say it again here, Leyland was sticking with his best bullpen arm. I’m convinced that if the Tigers had won this game that nobody would say anything about Rodney pitching 3+ innings.

“Tim F. said…
The Tiger’s deserved to take the lead in that game because Inge got hit in his baggy shirt?  I guess technically yes, but to point to this as to why the Tigers are going home is weak, IMO.  I doubt the spirit of the rules took into account the trend of baggy clothing.”

Tim - I’m pretty sure that the uniforms were a lot baggier when this rule was created in 1887 - please check some archived photos for evidence.  It’s a rule…weak or not.  Just like Granderson was not doubled off 1st base (he was safe), which would have brought Cabrera up with two on and two out.  Just like the pitch that Polanco struck out on was not a strike - pitchtrax showed it a foot inside - with runners on the corners just before Magglio lined into the faux-double play.  Twins were jobbed more often with the meandering strike zone by the umpire, but I’m not convinced at all that Casilla was safe…I thought he was out via the replays, but I did have my Tigers glasses on.  All told, it was the craziest game I’ve ever seen, and it was a devastating loss.  Kudos to the Twins, but it’s awful whenever an umpire plays that big a role in the game.

Hojo said: “Casilla was out. End of story.”

Way to argue your point Hojo.  Casilla was out because the ball beat him?  Or because the ump called him out, so he must have been out?  Or because he should have tagged up better so he deserved to be called out?

None of those are a reason to be out, of course.  Only question is whether Casilla got his hand in before Laird tagged him.  He clearly did.  The Inge play wouldn’t matter if the ump had gotten the Casilla call right.

Ben2009

I watched the same replays, and it was not so clear to me. I saw Laird tag him, on the shoulder, just before his hand slid in. Now, I could be wrong, but the play was not as clear as you are making it sound.